Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $200.67.

FERG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ferguson in a report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferguson

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ferguson by 32.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,359,000 after acquiring an additional 7,862 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 778,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,247,000 after purchasing an additional 52,776 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ferguson in the 4th quarter worth $587,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter worth $970,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group increased its holdings in Ferguson by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 25,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,506,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG opened at $160.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $173.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.70. Ferguson has a fifty-two week low of $152.52 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ferguson will post 9.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is presently 40.84%.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson plc distributes plumbing and heating products in the United States and Canada. It offers plumbing and heating solutions to customers in the residential, commercial, civil/infrastructure, and industrial end markets. The company also provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, fabrication, and others, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning products under the Ferguson brand name.